To find a place to stay on Koh Phangan, Airbnb is becoming ever more popular. The platform differs from the usual booking sites as you are more likely to be dealing with the landlord directly or the person who owns or manages the property. Airbnb was first born in 2008 and has seen an explosion in use since then. Property owners can subscribe to Airbnb and make their holiday rental accommodation accessible. Those who want to rent a property for their holiday will check and select their favourite choice from the list of available choices. Basically, Airbnb has opened up a whole new avenue of renting opportunities and is a perfect place for individuals to raise extra revenue.
Originally, the Full Moon Party made Koh Phangan popular, but on this beautiful island in the Gulf of Thailand, there is so much more to offer. With soft white sandy beaches, transparent turquoise seas and a lush green mountain forest interior, the island is a stunning postcard image, complete with several waterfalls to be explored and some great hikes to scenic viewpoints. Not only for party people (there's a lot of great nightlife on Koh Phangan and so many more parties to enjoy even if it's not full moon time), Koh Phangan is a nice spot. Koh Phangan is also a spiritual island with tons of beautiful, world-class retreats for yoga and meditation and is also a fantastic place for urban nomads with an exciting digital community of nomads and co-working spaces.
Homes and properties represent the location in which they are in and so you get more of a local experience and taste rather than a standard hotel or resort. But also you can find plain jane places if you wish along with the one-of-a-kind unbelievable experiences.
The hosts can be extremely welcoming and helpful giving you unique customer service rather than resort staff. They usually have excellent knowledge of the area, the best eating choices, sports, etc. Think of them as a personal concierge of your own.
Many times, hosts are open to messaging with you back and forth about concerns that you might have. If it's a late check-in or an extended stay. Communication is a winner here.
On the premise of saving people money, this is why Airbnb was created and unlike most hotel rooms, the majority of Airbnb rentals will have a kitchen. By preparing a few meals in the kitchen instead of dining out the whole holiday, you can get groceries from a local market and save money on food while travelling.
Trying to make a decision about where to stay, with so many places to choose from, can be overwhelming. Reviews can be a highly useful way of deciding if a specific accommodation is a good one. You get to see what real guests feel about their stay, not just the definition of the facilities of from the Airbnb host. Remember that guests can also get reviews on Airbnb.
Consider the ranking of the place. A higher score means that previous guests usually liked the place and enjoyed their stay with little if any problems. You have a better chance of enjoying the stay if you restrict yourself to high ranking Airbnbs.
It will show how many ratings the accommodation has in total and this is an immense number. If there are a lot of reviews, you will get a much more detailed description of the property. This does not mean that a place with a low number of reviews is poor, but if a lot of people gave it a high score instead of just three or four guests, a high score carries more weight. It also doesn't imply that reading all 300 reviews is essential. The first page or two should be adequate.
Read all the good and negative stuff people comment on and look for things that might bug you. A property with a lot of complaints about unnecessary street noise might not be right for you when you're easily distracted by noise. If you are responsive to hard beds and hard beds have a few issues, move on. But if the TV was too little, and you're not watching TV on vacation anyway, don't let that weigh into your decision if there are concerns about that.
Ignore some negativity. It was probably just a fluke if 30 people were raving about the place and one person said it was bad for some reason. Don't let one negative review overwhelm a sea of good feedback. For some guests, there are certain expectations, and they are not always met, but that doesn't mean that the host is at fault.
Airbnb has some measures in place to attempt to ensure guest safety and satisfaction. Since hosts' quality is dependent on their ratings, guests are encouraged to book only with highly recommended providers. Airbnb offers a 24/7 customer support line to settle any conflicts once the accommodation has been booked and will offer refunds if one of the following three categories is met: (1) the host cancels the reservation shortly before check-in or fails to provide access to the booked listing, (2) the booked listing is misrepresented or lacks promised facilities or products, or (3) the listing is typically not clean or as described.
Possibly one of the best parts of Airbnb is that you are dealing directly with the property and its host. You can always message them to ask any questions and they are usually very helpful. You can even contact them before you book to negotiate the price or make sure the property is suitable for you.
Through using Airbnb’s filtering and search system, you can conveniently compare other properties in the same region or even on a budget. In this way, instead of looking for a big and large location that may take more time, you will be given a list of certain accommodations that suit your criteria or are in the area you want to stay. You can also search by the dates you wish to travel.
The rates listed on Airbnb are per night, the specifics of the listing will usually also indicate how many people can accommodate the property and whether there are additional charges for extra individuals beyond what is permitted. You can also search for longer periods and the host may have put in a discounted price or as we mentioned before, you can contact them to ask about different rates for different durations of stay. Airbnb takes less commission than most other booking sites so it is likely you will find a great price when compared to other booking websites.
Some fees and minimum stays are sometimes found although the service encourages versatility and affordability.
If you are staying with the host in the property, privacy may be restricted. This comes with saving cash, of course. You can avoid this by staying in a private place.
With Airbnb, there are no loyalty schemes, so you won't get any better accommodation, free upgrades, or status perks as you would with a hotel chain.
You may not get what you see as described in the description or shown in photographs. Some hosts may not be as honest as they should be, as these listings are created by the hosts themselves. By looking through comments and feedback of previous guests who have shared their experiences, you will learn more critically about the house.
One of the disadvantages of staying at an Airbnb property is that after checkout you may not get a place to store your luggage until you can move on.
Anytime they like, the hosts can cancel. This is an unusual occurrence and affects ratings and feedback negatively, most hosts do not do this. When picking a new host with less or no reviews, you need to be alert.
Airbnb is a perfect choice for those looking for a unique experience or to save costs. But the pros and cons of using a service like this and the experience you are used to when staying at a resort or hotel need to be weighed. Have you used Airbnb for Koh Phangan? What did your experience look like?
Keep updated with phanganist.com by following our Facebook page.
